1987: Strengthening the foundations…

1987 saw Cooke & Hutchinson settle into the new office and set about entrenching our name within the Peninsula community. It had now been a very quick 13 years since John and Gary formed the firm and their ambition to head up a law practice of impeccable record and standing had now come to fruition.

1987 also saw:

– Blue Nursing Service, Day Care Therapy and Home Nursing HQ open in Redcliffe, as does the Gayundah Coastal Arboretum

– The first mobile phone call is made in Australia on 23 February

– The Joh for PM campaign begins and ends in the space of 6 months. The effort splits the conservative vote in the Federal election, with the Hawke Government returning for a third term

– On 20 October the Dow Jones experiences the largest drop in its history, in what becomes known as Black Monday. Australia’s All Ordinaries index falls by 25% in one day

– Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigns as Qld Premier, 3 days after being deposed by his own party. Bjelke-Petersen had attempted to withstand the move by his own party by sacking three senior ministers for gross disloyalty and not attending the party room ballot

– 19 year old Neighbours star Kylie Minogue releases her first single “The Loco-Motion”

– A series of major Australian media shakeups sees Alan Bond purchase the Nine Network from Kerry Packer, Fairfax Publishing purchase Channel 7 in Melbourne only to later sell the entire network to Christoper Skase’s Quintex group and Westfield’s purchase of Channel Ten from Rupert Murdoch

– British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wins a rare third term in power

– Saddam Hussein is forced to apologize when Iraqi missiles kill 37 US soldiers aboard the frigate Stark in the Persian Gulf

– The congressional inquiry into the Iran Contra affair, where the US covertly provided Nicaraguan Contra rebels with the proceeds of illegal arms sales to Iran, hears that senior US officials knew about, and attempted to cover up, the scandal. President Reagan later takes full responsibility for the matter

– Prozac released for public consumption in the US by Eli Lilly & Company

– An international treaty is signed in Montreal that calls for a 50% reduction in CFC use by the year 2000

– Wall Street, The Last Emperor, Good Morning Vietnam, The Untouchables, Robocop and Predator are released